Protesters mulling Trump hot air balloon for UK state visit

The man who helped orchestrate an effort last year to fly a blimp depicting President Trump as a baby over London during his visit to the United Kingdom said he's been "toying with the idea of a Trump baby hot air balloon" for the president's first official state visit there.

Leo Murray, the man who helped secure thousands of dollars through crowdfunding efforts to fly an inflatable infant Trump during his visit to the U.K. in July, confirmed to The Guardian in an interview on Tuesday that "the Trump baby will definitely fly again" for the president's scheduled three-day visit to the country in June.

"We have been toying with the idea of a Trump baby hot air balloon, which would be about five times the size. But would cost a huge amount of money - upwards of £70,000," Murray added.

However, some campaigners have reportedly expressed concerns over whether London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who approved a request for protesters to fly the blimp over the city during Trump's visit in 2018, will sign off on a Trump baby hot air balloon, which is estimated to be five times larger than the 20-foot-tall blimp.

One of the campaigners, Asad Rehman, who serves as executive director of War on Want, told the international news agency that he's "also thinking about the option of making a bigger baby blimp," but added that "logistics are the only consideration."

"We are very confident there will be more than a quarter of a million protesters. Trump's visit last year mobilised a large number of people, but a year later the man has done more to rip up human rights, step back from international norms, continued his climate denialism and fuelled white nationalism," Rehman, who is also a member of the Stop Trump Coalition, continued.

Murray told the publication that he thinks raising money for the hot air balloon "might not be the best use of resources, especially if we are unable to fly it over London."

As for the blimp flown last year, a spokesman for Khan told The Guardian that "any application to fly it on land that the Greater London Authority manages will be judged by the same criteria as last time by GLA officials, the police and the Civil Aviation Authority."